Gary Boas, News Editor, gary.boas@photonics.comResearchers face old-school challenges in developing state-of-the-art technologies. Researchers and clinicians use fiber optic-based probes for a wide range of applications – which means the probes must exhibit varying amounts of complexity. On one end of that spectrum sit the...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESGetting More Out of Telecom FiberThe rising amount of data generated by people and machines around the world travels largely by fiber, with some of it moving thousands of miles in a hop. For some long jumps, new ultralow-loss, large...Photonics Spectra March 2018 IssueA History of the Laser: 1960 - 2019In 2020, the laser will celebrate its 60th anniversary. Here Photonics Media presents a timeline of some of the more notable scientific accomplishments related to light amplification by stimulated...Photonics Spectra June 2019 IssueFiber Optics Crucial to Future Datacom TransmissionFiber optics technology plays a critical role within the telecommunications sector, thanks to the wide-scale and growing adoption of the technology in communication and data transmission services....EuroPhotonics Winter 2018 IssueFiber Optic Sensors Compete in Environmental Monitoring MarketModern societies are facing rising concerns about global environmental issues, including an alarming rise in pollution of our seas, waterways, land, and air. As we bear witness to widespread...EuroPhotonics Autumn 2019 IssuePRODUCTSThe Ultimate Polisher for BiophotonicsNOVA™ is multi-configurable, supporting a variety of biophotonic polishing applications from connectors to endoscopes, OCT bare fibers to image bundles, as well as custom components....Promoted Content May 2018 IssueMulti-Configurable PolisherMaximum flexibility for optical surface processing is now available with NOVA™. This system supports a variety of polishing applications from connectors to waveguides and bare fibers to custom...Photonics Showcase January 2018 IssueWave Optics ModuleThe Wave Optics Module is an add-on product to the COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation software platform. You can use the Wave Optics Module to efficiently model and optimize optical systems and...Promoted Content June 2019 IssuePolisher for Every ApplicationMaximum flexibility for optical surface processing is now available with NOVA™. This system supports a variety of polishing applications, from connectors to waveguides, and bare fibers to...Photonics Showcase September 2018 IssuePHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESSilicon Photonics: Light Is the Ultimate Medium for High-Speed Communications: Thanks to innovations with heterogeneous material integration and multiphotonic layer stacking, silicon photonics will drive optical solutions to high volumes and low costs.Silicon photonics is widely considered a key enabling technology for further development of optical interconnect solutions needed to address growing traffic on the internet. From the first submarine...Photonics HandbookMicroscopy Illumination: Considering Nonlaser Light Sources: Metal halide and LED light sources are changing the illumination landscape in microscopy. Brighter, easier to use and growing in application, they are driving new options in fluorescence, conventional bright-field and other contrast techniques.As recently as five years ago, shopping for a microscope light source was fairly straightforward. For routine applications, it was tungsten halogen, typically 100 W, while for fluorescence, it was an...Photonics HandbookFluorescence Lifetime Imaging: Choosing the Best Approach: Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), which measures the spatial distribution of the fluorescence decay, can be achieved either in the time or in the frequency domain. Each approach exhibits advantages and disadvantages, depending on the type of light detector and acquisition method employed.The term fluorescence is often applied as a synonym for photoluminescence, although luminescence actually covers fluorescence and phosphorescence. Both of these terms describe the process of...Photonics HandbookAspheric Lenses: Design Considerations: This first of two articles will cover design and manufacturing options for aspheres; the second will include more detail on manufacturing and testing processes. These articles will provide the tools optics designers need to tailor their designs to the appropriate manufacturing process and to optimize the cost of component fabrication.Aspheric surfaces are powerful tools that combine the optical corrections of multiple lenses into a single element (Figure 1) and affect performance in ways that spherical optics cannot. For example,...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSEffects of Sterilization Methods on Key Properties of Specialty Optical Fibers Used in Medical DevicesOptical fibers with different types of polymer coatings were exposed to three sterilization conditions: multiple autoclaving, treatment with ethylene oxide and treatment with gamma rays. Effects of...Photonics.com 2/25/2019Optimal Lighting Design Boosts Efficiency of Medical Diagnostic InstrumentsWhen it comes to clinical diagnoses, light is the key to prediction accuracy and to making progress in analytical quality. However, light is not always simply light. “What really makes the difference...Photonics.com 10/1/2018New Approach for High Reliability, Low Loss Splicing between Silica and ZBLAN FibersIn the past decade, ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-NaF) fibers have drawn increasing interest for laser operations at wavelengths where Fused Silica-based (SiO2) fibers do not perform well. One limitation to...Photonics.com 7/5/2018Advances in Precision Motion Control - Part I = Piezo Flexure Mechanisms, Part II = Air BearingsPiezo flexure nanopositioners and air bearings are on the leading edge of precision motion control. Whether it’s the precision, speed, and force of an electro-ceramic piezo actuator or the...Photonics.com 6/1/2018WEBINARSComputational Microscopy, Sensing and Diagnostics for Telemedicine and Global Health ApplicationsAdditional Questions and Answers from the Webinar are below: With more than 6 billion cell phone users in the world, the majority of them in developing countries, there are opportunities for...Photonics.com 6/5/2013Micro-Spectroscopy: Enabling Research From Novel Nano-Devices To Clinical DiagnosisMicro-spectroscopy is an ever developing modality for new and exciting research in the areas of nano-technology and bioscience. This webinar will look at modular approaches to microspectroscopy and...Photonics.com 3/24/2015Biophotonic Imaging for Medicine: A Digital ConferenceResearchers from around the world presented their latest work at “Biophotonic Imaging for Medicine: A Digital Conference.” Presentations focused on a range of light-based imaging and...Photonics.com 6/11/2015Fundamentals of Helium Leak DetectionFrom LEDs to medical devices to microelectronics to fiber optics — everything leaks! This 40-minute webinar, presented by Agilent Technologies, will describe the challenges of locating and...Photonics.com 4/17/2018PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSultraviolet fiber optics (UVFO)Special glasses that extend the usable range of fiber optics well into the ultraviolet region. The fibers have a core of high-purity, nonfluorescing quartz clad with an ultraviolet-transmitting...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009cutoff wavelength1. In detector technology, the long wavelength at which detector response falls to a set percentage (usually 20 or 50 percent). 2. In fiber optics, the shortest wavelength at which a fiber transmits...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009intensified vidiconA standard direct-readout vidicon tube linked by fiber optics to an intensifier for increased sensitivity.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009cladding glassIn fiber optics, the glass that is found around the glass core of the fiber, and that has a lower refractive index than the fiber.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIASCHOTT Solutions for InVitro DiagnosticsLight is not always simply light when it comes to clinical diagnoses, light is the key to prediction accuracy in analytical quality. Our solution: a flexible fiber optic multi-branch device with...Photonics.com 3/14/2018Photonics West 2017 Ushers in the New Year - LIGHT MATTERS 02.2017Photonics Media followed the photons all the way to San Francisco earlier this month for SPIE’s Photonics West 2017. The year truly begins with this event for many in the industry, as it is a symbol...Photonics.com 2/23/2017Photonics on the Showroom Floor and in the Lab - LIGHT MATTERS 02.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you on a brief tour of the Higgins Laboratories at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Quinsigamond Community College and WPI received a $4M grant...Photonics.com 2/21/2018Supporting the Photonics Industry from the Laboratory - LIGHT MATTERS 01.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you to central Massachusetts as Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Quinsigamond Community College take on a comprehensive joint photonics laboratory...Photonics.com 1/18/2018PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESEndoscopesAn endoscope is a medical instrument used to view inside the human body. The endoscope may use a coherent fiber optic bundle or conventional optics to relay the image to the eye or a television...Optical Cements and AdhesivesOptical GlassTransmittersA transmitter in fiber optic communications, is a light source whose beam can be modulated and sent along an optical fiber, and the electronics that support it.COMPANIESEvanescent Optics Inc.Evanescent Optics Inc. acquired the assets and employee group of Canadian Instrumentation & Research Ltd. in August 2009 and continues production and development of the suite of fiber optic...Photonics Buyers' GuideZeus Industrial ProductsZeus delivers precision polymer solutions that transform businesses, markets, and lives. We have dedicated 50 years to building partnerships, products, and services. Headquartered in Orangeburg,...Photonics Buyers' Guideart photonics GmbHart photonics GmbH is the world's leading manufacturer of unique fiber optics for mid IR-range, pioneering the patented technology of Polycrystalline PIR-fibers and assembling a variety of specialty...Photonics Buyers' GuidePhotonTec Berlin GmbHPhotonTec Berlin GmbH is located in the Center for Microsystems and Materials (ZMM) in Berlin-Adlershof, Germany. We focus on the development, production, and marketing of fiber-coupled diode lasers...Photonics Buyers' Guide